Back at it again. Tried trading my 'ol Dodge to Chad for those parts he collected but he didn't want her either so I worked a three way trade to end up with a 1940 Plymouth coupe. Never done a trade like that but it worked out alright in the end. First impression on the deal is I came up short on this one but that was ok as I see what's ahead. I only saw pics and had a short conversation with the owner and said what the hell let's roll the dice. Should have made the trip to see it in person of course but life is kinda busy right now (long story).
Bye bye Dodge!!
And here's a pic of the junker I got - actual pic from kijiji that was advertised incorrectly.
Pic from the guy involved in the trade bringing me the Plymouth and hoping I'm not a stiff and tell him too bad. I told him if it was total junk I would still do the deal, just teach me to make the drive next time but he was still nervous !!
Pulled the flats and threw on some rollers, looking better already but not the look I'm going for long-term. Popped all the tires off the rims for sandblasting and a set of wide whites in her future.
Here's my youngest checking her out.
So I pulled the plugs, well tried to anyway. Two came out, four broke. No direct damage to the head but they were in there so long the plug itself was so rusted they broke off at the base. Filled the cylinders as best I could with oil and left her sit for the week, well added some more every other day. Not looking good at this point at all.
In the meantime I'm thinking this baby is stuck for sure. Plates are from 1970 and from what I've been told that's about the last time she ran. So I picked up this little beasty as a back-up just in case. 455 buried under there somewhere. Popped out the motor and transmission and assorted goodies and set her aside.
Also popped the rear end for the above mentioned little guys new bed. Taillights will be working as night lights, etc.
Anyway rolled the Plymouth in yesterday fully expecting to yank out the flathead and start the stuffing of the 455 into her. WRONG!, Threw 12v onto the starter, cranked the starter lever and she spun-over. Had compression on 5 outta 6 cylinders. Not bad, sticky valve perhaps. OK, off with the head, cleaned things up, found a sticky intake valve, a little secret fluid into her, more clean-up, valves a moving. Cleaned up the head, drilled and persuaded the broken plugs out, chased some threads, some fresh paint, new plugs of course. back in ya go. Replaced all the hoses, greased the water pump, some temporary jumper wires (12v in her future) a new coil and points......fingers crossed......
-- Edited by Playin Hookie on Thursday 15th of August 2013 11:50:33 PM
Got her into the shop for a bit on the weekend, pulled the 10 inches of seat padding and assorted material decay out of there. Quite the mess but no animal feces for a change so that was a treat. Even found a beverage but it was an empty!
Even found proof that someone loved her in the past....distant past that is.
Cleared the trunk out, yeah not surprising that it wasn't anything to exciting.
Pulled the seats out, found the rubber mat (uh oh that's not good) and pulled her back to see what the rest of the floor looked like. Judging by the trunk I wasn't expecting much but this was a little less than I was expecting.
One the plus side, makes tear-down a little faster. LoL Pulled out the seat riser/mount and removed the front access cover.
So..... we have no floors to speak of, inner rockers that need to be replaced, bottom 2 inches of the inner wheel wells are shot, body mounts are shot from "a" pillar all the way back AND she sits a bit too high for me. Hmmm what to do, what to do??
NEAT CAR!!! But this is ONTARIO RODDERS so I think the OLDS 455 "just" has to go in there!!! & be different by not havin a SBC or Ford Etc. Just my Opinion, It's your car to build!!! Pete
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I can only please one person a day, Today is not your day!!Tomorrow doesn't look good either !!!!
Figured it was easiest just to pull out the firewall, then trim, section,fill and re-install
Put a few support blocks in place, cut out the remaining mounts and trimmed the front inners as needed. Popped off the rear filler, bumpers and brackets, pulled the rad......"knocked out the blocks" and laid her down.
Getting there. That was the easy part , next build some new mounts, rebuild the inner rockers and lower sills and things should be much tidier before laying out the floor pans and seat mounts, etc.
I'm going to slide her ahead about an inch to center up the wheels in the openings better than factory then get her outside for a look see.
I really like where this car is going. I rebuilt and channeled a 49' Chev Fleetline a few years ago in 6 weeks that was way rustier than yours. I actually did a frame swap to a shortend S10 frame. Worked great.
But if you don't keep the flat six, big block mopar for sure! I will pickup an old coupe one day to build a gasser out of :)
I'm with Dan on this too keep it Dodge,if you want to sell it in the future it will be to a Dodge person and it will be worth more that way. In the old days we used sbc because they were short and narrow now days a new build is better off sticking to the same make engine as body make.just my 2 cents worth.Btw I think your youngster is going to love his? bed
Great work Reg, looks a lot better with some altitude pulled from it. I say throw a big block in it and don't touch the exterior, just drive the hell out of it!
so I worked a three way trade to end up with a 1940 Plymouth coupe. Never done a trade like that but it worked out alright in the end. First impression on the deal is I came up short on this one but that was ok as I see what's ahead. I only saw pics and had a short conversation with the owner and said what the hell let's roll the dice. Should have made the trip to see it in person of course but life is kinda busy right now (long story).
